This new report from the Committee on National Statistics concludes that gathering survey data on “experienced” well-being would be valuable for informing specific, targeted policy questions such as improving the living and working conditions of different population groups. Most compellingly, these data could help identify subpopulations that are suffering and aid research in the sources of and remedy for that suffering. The report cautions that this kind of data collection should be pursued in experimental surveys or included in large surveys on a pilot basis until more is understood about the validity and accuracy of responses.

Sponsors: U.S. National Institute on Aging and the U.K. Economic and Social Research Council